The rockefeller university

Steve Bonilla, assistant professor and head of the Laboratory of Structural Biology and Biophysics, has been named an HHMI Freeman Hrabowski Scholar. Bonilla is one of 30 Hrabowski Scholars appointed in this year’s class and the first Rockefeller faculty member to be appointed.

The Hrabowski Scholar program, which first appointed Scholars in 2023, invests in exceptional early-career scientists, providing salary and generous support for research and equipment for five years, along with professional development opportunities to advance leadership and mentorship skills. A successful review can result in a second five-year term. Steve will begin his appointment in August, 2026.

Bonilla was recruited to Rockefeller in 2023, coming from his postdoc at the University of Colorado where he did research on the flexible functions encoded in the sequences of RNA molecules. His lab is pursuing insights into the fundamental rules of RNA folding, structure, and dynamic function, and his research has revealed unexpected functions of RNAs in a wide range of biological processes.